Booyah!

This is what I'm talking about. If you give concessions in order to get votes, then don't get the votes, then withdraw the concessions. If the Republicans want to be instransigent they should pay something for it.

I think Dems are playing coy on this point for now primarily in order to spook the Republicans into thinking she just might do it. Remember, the House and Senate will eventually have to meet in conference to hammer out differences in the bill. The Dems will have considerable power to simply drop some of those measures that were added as enticements to moderate Republicans. The vote that matters is on the final conference report. What happened yesterday was just a first-round playoff game.

Rush Limbaugh has the GOP by its balls

1. A Republican congressman criticizes Limbaugh and other conservative talkers for throwing bricks from the cheap seats.

2. Said congressman gets inundated with calls and letters complaining about his criticizing of Limbaugh.

3. Said congressman issues a public apology saying he is with Limbaugh.

4. Said congressman then goes on Limbaugh's show to publicly lick Rush's boots.

And people wonder if it was smart of Obama to highlight Rush's power in the GOP?

Where are the Dems?

I'm seeing lots of complaints on the internet that the Republicans are dominating the cable chat fests. Will the GOP be left uncontested in their attempts to define the narrative on the stimulus? Perhaps. But two thoughts occur to me:

1. The Dems probably aren't on TV that much because they are actually working to put together the bill.

2. I'm just not sure that the pundit chat is as significant in defining the narrative as it used to be.

I barely watch these shows any more. I suspect a lot of other people don't either. More and more people are getting their information and narratives from alternate sources (i.e., the internet). So I'm not sure that a preponderance of Republicans on Chris Mathews will have much impact on public perception of this package. What people pay attention to is news reports of layoffs, falling/rising prices and other general economic news. Those are the factors that will really swing the narrative in the coming months.

There was a time when TV face time was a vital component of political power. My suspicion is that that time has passed.

The Big Stick

Steve Benen

Nevertheless, I have one relevant question: since the House GOP isn't interested in passing the bill anymore, can Democrats make it even better now? The White House has been willing to make all kinds of concessions to win over Republican support, but it's not enough. Since the GOP is going to vote "no" anyway, why not make the bill as effective and progressive as possible? If there's no point in the majority party offering unwelcome enticements to those who'll remain obstinate anyway, then pull the enticements and let the majority party do the right thing.

This is what I was getting at before. We are at the stage of the negotiations where Democrats have typically come back to the table with even more concessions to try to win over Republicans. If Obama has learned anything from the last couple of decades, he should have learned that this is a failed strategy. It's what made the Democrats look weak in their dealings with their counterparts.

The carrot didn't work. Now is the time to bring out the stick. If the Republicans won't cooperate, even when Obama bends over backward to address their concerns, then he should "punish" them for the recalcitrance by making the bill even "worse" (from their perspective) than originally proposed. The Republicans are free to vote against the bill. But they should feel some immediate pain for their choices (as opposed to the deferred pain of an election in two years.)

The War On Work

I don't even know if I could begin to summarize this.

Mike Rowe is the host of "Dirty Jobs", quite possibly one of my favorite shows on TV. This link goes to a portion of a talk Rowe gave recently. It is both funny, disgusting, poignant and extremely thought provoking.

It's also long (about 20 minutes), but well worth it.

He has a new web site as well.

The War On Work

I don't even know if I could begin to summarize this.

Mike Rowe is the host of "Dirty Jobs", quite possibly one of my favorite shows on TV. This link goes to a portion of a talk Rowe gave recently. It is both funny, disgusting, poignant and extremely thought provoking.

It's also long (about 20 minutes), but well worth it.